Portage Attorney Swindles Elderly Couple In Land Deal

AURORA, IL — An Indiana lawyer was convicted of two counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution and one count of bank fraud Friday. Robert Jon Schlyer of Portage duped a retired elderly couple out of $300,000 thinking they were helping him secure a $2 million property in Aurora, Illinois. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the lawyer represented two clients and co-schemers, Kevin Lebeau of Aurora and Brian Bodie of Chicago. Both have been previously convicted and are awaiting sentencing. Schlyer provided fake documents to an elderly couple and a bank in order to postpone foreclosure on the property.

A four-day jury trial lead to a guilty verdict last Friday. Evidence showed that in 2004, Amcore Bank received a mortgage on a 10.4-acre property in Aurora after issuing a $1.9 million loan for refinancing and redevelopment. Lebeau and Bodie executed a full personal guarantee for the loan.

The following year, the two failed to make payments and the loan defaulted, prompting the bank to file a foreclosure lawsuit in order to seize the property. Schlyer convinced an elderly retired couple to give him $300,000. This was made possible by presenting them with fake documents that made it seem like they were making a sound investment in the property’s redevelopment. Schlyer also lied that he was to be the trustee of the purported trust. There was no trust, and the three men withheld any information from the couple about the foreclosure suit. A portion of that money was used to pay down the bank loan.

The schemers also presented fake documents to the bank, including one that made it appear that investors had committed $1.5 million to the redevelopment of the property. After it was foreclosed, the property was sold in 2010 at a significant loss to the bank.

U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve set sentencing for January. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock